New Salem, Witch Island

The Bloodlines have run down through humanity since before recorded history; families passing from one generation to the next the power of magic, each family specializing in a form. Though powerful, they must hide their relatively small numbers from the fearful mass of humanity, lest we have a fiasco like the Inquisition again. It was that terrible time that has fixed a name to their kind – though the Elders dislike it – that is commonly used to this day: Witches.

In the late 1600s, a group of Elders and their human servants retreated from the the unrest of the Witch Trials to an island off the coast of New England. In defiance, they named the island New Salem. An academy was built for the training of young Witches, as well as housing for refugees whose powers were difficult to control or who could not blend in with humanity. It later proved to be an amiable containment community for Witches that would not blend in or were troublesome in other ways.

As New Salem became equal parts retirement community, private school, refugee camp and prison, the human population steadily climbed through births, migration and the need for outside commerce. This increased the need for security but, simple math, it is easier to police the Witches than all the humans.

So while a small, powerful population of Witches ruthlessly hides their powers from a mass of humans, there are political maneuvering among the Elders and City Hall. There are monsters imprisoned in the woods and revolutionaries repressed by the Elders, both trying to escape. There are bastards among the humans manifesting Witchly powers…

….There is something waking in the dark places of the island, bringing magics back that have not been seen in generations.

And then there is you: young Witches trying to navigate it all while figuring out where – if at all – you fit in.